Improvement in locks



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.,

RANDOLPH S. FOSTER, OF SING SING, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF,CORNELIUS WALSH, AND JOHN O. NOBLES.

IMPROVEMENT'.` IN LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 39,0! 0, dated June 23,1863.

.To u/,ZZl whom it may concern,-

Be it known that I, RANDOLPH S. FosTER, of Sing Sing, in the county ofWestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Pad or Mail Locks; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the construction andoperation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,making a part of this specificaion, in which- I Figure l is aperspective view of the lock. Fig. 2 represents the interior thereof.Fig. 3 represents the key. Fig. 4 represents the turning-hub, and Fig. 5represents the bitplates.

This lock in its general characteristics resembles that for a trunk-lockfor which I have made a separate application for Letters Patent,differing, however, from that, mainly, in the construction of thebit-plates and their action in connection with a hinged hasp.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe'the same with reference to the drawings. 1

As a pad or mail look, on account of its portable and exposed condition,requires more securities against injury than any other locks, I havetaken this fact into consideration and duly provided against suchliabilities. Its side plates and rim may be united in any of the knownmodes of making and uniting such locks. The hub A has two shortjournals, a a, which are supported in suitable bearings on thecheek-plates B of the lock, and, besides the key-slot b and the cut-awayportion c, is furnished with the disk d, which turns in a covered recessunder the plate e. The cheeks B are thus firmly braced against any blowsthe lock may receive. The hasp Gis hinged at f, and its catch g entersat h when it is shut down. These points f and h are strengthened andprotected against a pick or other forcing-tool by the additional platesi i, so that the hasp -pivot and catch can neither be seen nor readilyreached. The bitplates D are three in number, (more or less,

being equally applicable, if required or found desirable,) correspondingwith the three bits 1 2 3 of the key E. The bit-plates have three activeopenings, j 7c Z, and one passive opening, m, and in addition to theseone of the plates has an extra opening, n, in its lower bar, o, to allowthe key to be entered in the lock, and each of them has a spring, p, tokeep them in proper position when not acted upon by the hub A or key E.The bit-plates are, moreover, held in proper position vertically by theplates 7 s at their upper and lower edges. Thus protected, and thelockcase strengthened, it would be impossible to disarrange the interiorof the lock by any of the ordinary casualties that such locks aresubjected to. The slots j lin the bit-plates are in the arc of a circlewhose center is at f, so that the hasp-catch may freely and neatly entertherein. The slots k extend horizontally both ways from the lower end ofthe slot j, so as to form bolts or tongues to enter the catch of thehasp, and the slots Z are quadrangular, and large enough to allow thehub and key to turn therein. The slotsm are merely to allow a rivet tobe passed through from cheek to cheek of the lock without interferingwith the movement of the bit-plates When the hasp is locked in, thebit-plates rest against the cut-away portion c of the hub, being heldthere by their springs p. When the key is inserted and turned, itcarries with it the hub A, and this hub partially moves back thebit-plates, not far enough, however, to release the hasp; but when thekey-bits come around they arrange the bit-plates so that the hasp-catchis released, and it may then be swung out of the lock. A threequarterturn of the key arranges the bitplates so that the hasp may be swung outor in, and the remaining quarter-turn in the same direction again locksthe hasp. Besides the security against picking that the hub affords tothe lock, it further enables me l to use a very delicate key, light andconvenient to carry, its bits projecting but very little beyond theperimeter of the hub, and the other portions of the key perfectlyprotected in the hub -and lessening the leverage upon its bits, allowingit to be very delicately made. structed and operating substantially inthe Having described my improvement in padmanner and for the purposeherein set forth looks, what I claim therein as new, and deanddescribed.

sire to secure by Letters Patent, is RANDOLPH S. FOSTER.

The combination of the key, hub, bit- TWitnesses: plates, and theiropenings, with a hinged STEPHEN R. HAINES,

hasp and the cheek-plates, the whole cou- JOHN C. NOBLE.

